Expert: Justin Wheeler - 1/3/2012

Question
I just installed an aftermarket head unit in my 2004 chevy 2500 with the bose speaker system. After I was sure finished I noticed that only the rear speakers were playing at full power I checked all the connections and before I took the stock head unit out I was sure to set balance and the fade to the center I used the correct harness is there a trick or is there an answer to fixing this
thanks

Dan

Answer
Hi Dan,

The first, and simplest answer is to check and make sure that the speakers weren't hooked up backwards.

When you hook up the wires to a speaker backwards, they'll still make sound, but their imaging will be all wrong, and the sound can get all muffled.

Another thing to check, depending on which stereo/deck you got is to see if it has the ability to set the 'kind of vehicle' in the menu somewhere.  If it's set to something like SUV, it might bias the rear speakers to make the sound more 'even' in the driver's position.

Finally, you might be simply dealing with a vehicle that intentionally biases the sound to the front because of a difference in speaker size or position, and with a deck that sends the sound out evenly, you get quieter fronts.  If that is the case, the best thing you can reasonably do is set the fader to fade towards the front until it's even and then play it that way.

Justin